The eruption of the volcano in Indonesia/ 11 climbers lost their lives, dozens missing

2023-12-04 08:12:15, Kosova & Bota CNA

The eruption of the volcano in Indonesia/ 11 climbers lost their lives, dozens

Eleven climbers were found dead on Monday and twelve others are still missing after a volcano erupted in Indonesia.

Rescuers worked through the night to find dozens of climbers trapped on Mount Marapi on the island of Sumatra.

The dead climbers were found near the Marapi crater after the 2,891-meter volcano spewed ash into nearby villages, according to a local rescue official.

Twelve people were missing, three others were found alive and 49 had safely descended from the crater, some with burns and fractures, the official said.

"We cannot do an aerial search by helicopter because the explosion is still going on," said the head of the local rescue agency, Abdul Malik. He said about 120 people were involved in the search.

The other three people who were found alive had not come down from the mountain together with the 11 dead.

Those three survivors were found near the crater and "their condition was poor and some had burns," Malik said.

Zhafirah Zahrim Febrina, one of the rescued climbers, appears in a video message asking her mother for help.

The 19-year-old is in hospital with her father and uncle after becoming stranded on the mountain on a trip with 18 school friends.

"She is going through an incredible trauma," said her mother Rani Radelani, 39.

"She is psychologically affected because she saw her burns and also had to endure the pain all night," she said.

Local rescue agency spokesman Jodi Haryawan said rescue efforts had been disrupted by sporadic explosions, but the search was still ongoing despite the dangers.

"Once it was safer, they continued the search. So the search didn't stop," he said.

The head of West Sumatra's Disaster Mitigation Agency, Rudy Rinaldi, told AFP that some of the rescued climbers had suffered burns.

"Those who were injured were those who approached the crater," he said.

At least eight people suffered burns, one had burns and a fracture and another had a head wound, according to a list of those found by Basarnas, a national search and rescue agency./ REL